The present invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for preparing and cooking pizza, and in particular to improvements in such apparatus and methods which permit important reductions in the cooking time required to properly cook pizza.
Pizza is commonly perceived as a fast food, and customers of pizza restaurants often expect prompt service typical of other fast food restaurants. In fact, conventional cooking methods result in a cooking time for thick crust pizza which can often exceed twenty minutes. In the past, the disparity between the image of pizza as a fast food and the reality of twenty minute or longer cooking times has created inevitable dissatisfaction among the consuming public.
Furthermore, conventional pizza cooking procedures can require customers to wait for extended periods after they have been seated. Particularly in the case of thick crust pizza, which can require twenty to thirty minutes for proper cooking, pizza cooking time acts as a limit on the table turnover rate and therefore as a limit on the peak capacity of pizza restaurants.
A need therefore exists for improved techniques for preparing and cooking pizza which is comparable to present pizza in terms of taste, texture and other such characteristics, yet which can be cooked more quickly to reduce customer waiting time and dissatisfaction and to increase restaurant serving capacity.